Gonzalo Garcia - one of Real Madrid's best young players - Photo: Reuters
Real Madrid are living through a season of clear change with a squad with the lowest average age since 1999 - a milestone 26 years ago.
A young Real Madrid like Barca
According to Transfermarkt statistics, before the 2025-2026 season, the Spanish royal team only has an average age of about 25.7 years old. This number marks a big change compared to previous seasons, making Real Madrid a model representing the ambitious "rejuvenation" trend.
The fact that Real Madrid currently have the youngest squad in nearly three decades should be seen in the context of La Liga's overall rejuvenation. Transfermarkt data shows that in the 2024-2025 season, Real Madrid and Barcelona have a similar average age - 26 years old.
It is important to note that Barca is always famous for using young players. Real Madrid, on the other hand, only called up young players to fill the bench when the main players suffered a series of injuries last season.
The standout story of this summer has been Real Madrid themselves: with new signings such as 20-year-old centre-back Dean Huijsen, who has just joined from Bournemouth, and attacking midfielder Mastantuono, who is just 17 years old.
Real Madrid are showing a major revolution in thinking as they are used to buying famous superstars in the past.
Mr. Paolo Roca - an expert in the field of transfer and talent development, who also discovered Endrick - emphasized the great potential of young players at Real Madrid at present: "The young players that Real Madrid owns still have a lot of potential to develop, Endrick and Mastantuono both have the potential to follow in Vinicius' footsteps in the future".
Meanwhile, Cadena SER analyst Tomás Roncero, although supporting the "rejuvenation" wave, also expressed caution when saying: "Real Madrid have been very smart with their signings, but the midfield currently lacks a real conductor like Modric and Kroos".
We also cannot ignore the perspective of tactical critics, when they commented that Xabi Alonso's taking on the coaching position opens up great opportunities to effectively exploit young players.
Experts believe that the Spanish coach can build a team that balances youth and tactics, helping the team adapt quickly, especially when both Endrick and Huijsen have shown remarkable maturity in the early stages of the season.
Why does Real Madrid need to innovate?
In fact, Real Madrid's transfer policy over the past two decades has shown their two-part strategy. Firstly, Real Madrid has achieved its current success by recruiting superstars at their peak - from Ronaldo, Benzema, Modric in the past to Rudiger, Alaba, Mbappe in the future.
And secondly, Real Madrid focuses on signing promising U21 talents, to ensure both sporting effectiveness and financial benefits. Deals like Bellingham, Vinicius Jr., Camavinga, Valverde, Rodrygo... are all proof of that philosophy, and now Mastantuono, Huijsen...
The difference now is that Real Madrid are looking to push their young players forward earlier. Their starting centre-back pairing for the start of next season is likely to be Asencio and Huijsen - both under-23s.
In midfield, a 20-year-old Arda Guler is expected to replace Modric's role. And it is not impossible that players in their twenties like Alvaro Carreras or Gonzalo Garcia are also capable of breaking into the starting lineup.
Part of that change in thinking comes from coach Xabi Alonso - who is only 43 years old and has the backing of the Real Madrid board for the revolution. And part of it is a general trend in football.
Both PSG and Barca - the most successful teams last season - were extremely successful in using stars in their early 20s. Real Madrid clearly cannot stand outside that trend.
In the end, Real Madrid had no choice when the old generation of superstars like Kroos and Modric left one after another. In an era of inflation, replacing a series of pillars like that with top stars could cost up to a billion euros.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ky-nguyen-cua-baby-madrid-202508081019447.htm
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